I think fabric softener is a no-no with cloth nappies. It coats the fibres or something and makes them less absorbent. I found flats worked fine for us (other than the jabbings from the *&%# pins) during the winter with a slower drying time but now its hot and so bright outside they dry to sandpaper. Poor little Piglet had troubles on her bottom from them. She'd have what looked like rugburn, I'd do a few days in sposies and she'd be fine. Then feel guilty about using them, put her back into flats and the rugburn bottom again. So I gave in and cast about for MCN. Let me tell you, I wish I had done it sooner. I tried out Greenkids and bummis and Baby Beehinds. You can get trial packs for minimal outlay and work out what you like. Nurture Nappies were good.

I ended up settling on Baby Beehinds bamboo and hemp fitted nappies with covers. I was using covers anyway, and these snap closed. You can snap in boosters to make them more absorbent. They are fantastic. I can't say enough good about them. I'm not too keen on AIO's, they take a looooooong time to dry and aren't as leakproof IMO. The fitteds still take a little extra time to dry (except on the reeeeally bright days) but that's ok with me. They're wonderful on Lila's bottom. We have 4 covers and 18 nappies and that works fine for us. I do a medium load every morning, just another morning chore. The hemp ones dry heaps faster, if I were doing it over again I think I might have gone all hemp. Anyway hope that helps....

ETA- Pffft silly silly me. I was so keen to help you out I didn't read the whole post... my cheeks are a little red...